Hainan trade zone will boost opening-up

China released a plan to build Hainan into a pilot free trade zone－including substantial relaxation of market access for foreign companies and upgrading of trade facilitation－to create a gateway for opening up toward the Pacific and the Indian oceans.The China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, approved by the State Council, will cover the whole island of Hainan. The government plans to make the zone an international tourism and shopping center, as well as offer services and support for development of the Belt and Road Initiative and other national strategies.Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce, said as a demonstration of China's resolve to further open up and promote economic globalization, the island, which covers 35,400 square kilometers, will be granted more autonomy to enact reforms and speed the fostering of a law-based, international and convenient business environment.Hainan's FTZ will adopt pre-entry national treatment and negative list management to increase openness, especially in areas like seed production, healthcare, telecommunications, internet, aviation, marine economy and new energy vehicle manufacturing.It will abolish stock ownership ratio limits for foreigners in new vegetable variety breeding and seed production. It will transfer the power to approve foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services from the central government to Hainan province. In addition, it will allow foreign companies to hold up to a 51 percent ownership share in life insurance companies and remove foreign share ratio restrictions in vessel and general aircraft design, manufacturing and maintenance.Source: China Daildy

China becomes the world's largest foreign direct investment inflow country

According to the "Global Investment Trend Monitoring Report" released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on October 15, global foreign direct investment in the first half of 2018 is about 470 billion US dollars, down 41% than the same period of last year. But it is remarkable that  is that China's foreign investment increased by 6% in the first half of the year, totaling more than 70 billion US dollars, becoming the world's largest foreign direct investment inflow country.Recently, the multinational companies such as BMW, Ford, Exxon Mobil and BASF have either increased their investing capital in China or announced that they will make large-scale investments in the Chinese market.Since the beginning of this year, the number of foreign companies investing in China has doubled. According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, 41,431 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established nationwide from January to August, a year-on-year increase of 102.7%; actual use of foreign capital was 86.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 6.1% year-on-year. The growth rate of these two indicators in August was higher, with the growth of the two indicators by 126.8% and 11.4% respectively.

Shanghai issues service trade negative list

The Shanghai municipal government released a negative list for cross-border service trade, the first of its kind in China.A total of 159 detailed regulations have been included in the new negative list, covering 31 industries. The new list defined cross-border service trade as "commercial activities delivered by overseas service providers to consumers in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone".There will be three major business models covered by the new list, including cross-border service directly delivered to the FTZ, overseas service provided to consumers in the FTZ and overseas service delivered via natural persons in the FTZ.Different from service trade negative lists adopted in other parts of the world, which are compiled in descriptive wordings, the new list introduced in the Shanghai FTZ is based on industries. In this sense, the list in Shanghai will be more transparent and can be implemented more easily, said Shen Weihua, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.Countries and regions which have signed free trade agreements with more favorable opening-up polices for service trade, Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, or Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, should stick to the previous regulations.Wu Qing, vice-mayor of Shanghai, said the newly released negative list will help to speed up the supply-side reform for ongoing service trade in Shanghai and promote the upgrading of foreign trade.For the next step, the municipal government will look to further opening-up in tourism, education, telecommunications, professional services and qualifications for professional technicians in certain areas."The manufacturing industry has become more service-oriented and the service industry has become more high-end by involving more outsourcing, digitalization and integration with other industries. In this sense, the service trade has become the new driving force of world trade," said Wu."The introduction of the negative list for cross-border service trade will help China better cope with global economic and trade changes and further integrate into the world value chain."Given the sluggish world economy and rising trade protectionism, the negative list will help to remove the barriers in service trade and create a more open and free market," he added.Statistics provided by the Ministry of Commerce showed that China's total volume of service trade amounted to $695.68 billion in 2017, up 5.1 percent year-on-year. Shanghai surpassed all other cities in the nation in terms of the transaction volume of service trade, with the number coming at $195.5 billion. Service trade contributed up to 29.1 percent to the city's total outbound trade volume last year.This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai FTZ. The form of negative list, which was first introduced in the Shanghai FTZ in September 2013, has been promoted nationwide. On top of that, there have been 127 reform and innovative policies adopted in the city or all over the country.Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang said at a meeting in late September that the Shanghai FTZ has taken the lead in the country in terms of further reform and opening-up since its establishment. Efforts should be made to accelerate the opening-up in key areas, including the integration between commodity trade and service trade, in order to create an equal, united and highly efficient market environment.Source: China Dail

City gears up for first import expo

As the first China International Import Expo is less than one month away, the host city Shanghai has reached the final stage of its preparations, as products from all over the world have been arriving in the city.Designed to be a world-class event on a par with the most renowned exhibitions in the world, the inaugural import expo combines country exhibitions, enterprise exhibitions and forums to promote free trade and an open global economy.The event, which will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center from Nov 5 to 10 in Shanghai, was first announced in 2017 by President Xi Jinping, who called it "an important policy statement and action demonstrating China's embracing of greater openness".According to the China International Import Expo Bureau, a total of 2,800 companies from the G20 member states, as well as 50 countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, will participate in the expo. Around 160,000 buyers from more than 80,000 domestic and overseas enterprises have also signed up for the event.In addition, 80 countries and three international organizations have confirmed their participation in the event, said the bureau.As the event is drawing near, goods from foreign exhibitors have arrived at local customs. Shanghai has opened green channels for the products, significantly cutting the time needed for them to be unloaded and stored in local warehouses.So far, it is estimated that products from more than 1,500 exhibitors have arrived in the Chinese mainland, while those from another 1,000 have been or are being shipped.Gao Rongkun, director of Shanghai Customs, said that the customs department has drawn on the experiences from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Shanghai Expo to design measures for the upcoming event in November, such as offering a one-stop service for exhibit registration, clearance and supervision, and reconciliation.Several other measures were published in June, including the expansion of categories of imported exhibits for agricultural and livestock products, and the simplification of export and disposal procedures for exhibits after the expo.Fang Hui, general manager of the operation department of the National Exhibition and Convention Center, said a temporary customs inspection area will be set up in the northern plaza of the center for late arrivals or highly valuable exhibits that are not suitable for inspection at ports.Chinese companies are eyeing the great potential of boosting imports through the event."During the expo, we expect to import at least 1,000 kinds of products and services that have not been sold in the domestic market," said Wang Zhe, Party secretary of China's commercial giant Suning Holdings Group. "In the next three years, we plan to import goods worth 10 billion euros ($11.5 billion)."Liang Feng, president of the State-owned China National Machine Tool Sales and Technical Service Corporation, said the CIIE will see eight leading companies in the machine tool industry launch a dozen new products in China for the first time.More than 100 new products and technologies are expected to debut at the expo, according to statistics from the organizers.Forty-three African countries have confirmed their participation in the expo. Around 190 enterprises from Africa will promote local products such as Egyptian date palm, Ethiopian coffee, and Amarula from South Africa, according to the organizers."The CIIE shows China's changing trade strategy and its resolve to fulfill its responsibility as a major country and achieve mutual benefits and win-win cooperation with all nations," said Zhao Beiwen, deputy head of the World Economy Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.As the host city, Shanghai has been holding rehearsals, improving city infrastructure and training volunteers to meet needs of the upcoming event. A comprehensive rehearsal was held at the expo venue on Oct 4 covering various scenarios.Realizing that the six-day exhibition would be too short a period for exhibitors and buyers from all over the world to learn and take advantage of business opportunities in China, Shanghai's commerce commission has established exhibition and transaction platforms that would be available all year round. These platforms are aimed at providing a channel for foreign products, services and technology to enter the Chinese market.The municipality has also set up a one-stop, year-round platform that will feature import exhibits, including those from the six-day expo.Source：China Daily

Simpler clearance aims to boost trade, business

Import, export paperwork to be streamlined, time shortenedChina will enact a number of measures to improve the business environment at its ports and help boost cross-border trade by optimizing procedures with higher efficiency and lower costs, said senior customs officials.These measures aim to bring about more efficient trade facilitation and maintain stable growth of China's imports and exports, said Zhang Guangzhi, head of the National Office of Port Administration under the General Administration of Customs, during a policy briefing hosted by the State Council Information Office.The briefing came after an executive meeting of the State Council, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, resolved to ease the customs clearance process.By Nov 1, the number of documents required for imports and exports will be cut to 48 from the current 86, Zhang said. By the end of this year, the overall clearance time for imports and exports will be cut by one-third from a year earlier, he said. An import clearance time of 65 hours is the goal, down from the current 97 and a half hours, and just over 8 hours are targeted for export clearance time from the present 12 and a half hours, he said.Within this year, compliance costs for imports and exports will be cut from 2017 levels, Zhang said. Information and smart technology for port logistics will be improved with the single window system to be applied for 80 percent of international trade by the end of this year. All trade procedures will adopt such a method by the end of 2020, Zhang said.Bai Shi, deputy head of the port administration, said China's single window system has more than 580,000 registered users and provides free services.More than 120 million applications have so far been processed through this system, making it one of the most important platforms for customs clearance and international trade, Bai said.In addition, Zhang said the State Council executive meeting resolved to substantially reduce charges and fees, and requires local authorities to disclose a list of such charges by the end of October.Moreover, reforms in tariff guarantees and insurance will be promoted to allow goods to be released before tariffs are paid, Zhang said. "Green channels" will also be established for agricultural commodities and other perishables, he said.In the next step, more measures will be taken to ensure the target of reducing overall clearance time by one-third, set in the Government Work Report delivered by the premier in March, he added.Source: China Daily

Red tape reduced to grant firms easier market access

China's top market regulator is to cancel or relax 106 items that need government approval when businesses apply for operating permits, as part of reforms to reduce red tape and create a better environment for enterprises.The changes will take effect on Nov 10, Ma Zhengqi, deputy head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said at a policy briefing hosted by the State Council Information Office on Friday.Among the 106 items, two will be canceled outright, meaning some market entities will be able to start operation as soon as they receive business licenses, he said. Previously, enterprises needed various permits depending on their industry before being allowed to trade.One item will be also reclassified as "file submission", meaning enterprises can operate as long as they have handed over the necessary paperwork to regulators, Ma said.For another 18 items, market entities will receive immediate on-site approval after they make written promises and submit the necessary materials, while the other 84 items will be streamlined to increase efficiency, he said.The briefing followed the release of a guideline about the reform approved at an executive meeting of the State Council on Sept 12. The meeting decided to roll out nationwide a pilot program in the Shanghai free trade zone that separated business licenses from operating permits.Ma said China has adopted a series of reforms to improve its business environment and reduce institutional costs for enterprises. As of last month, China had 105 million market entities, including more than 32 million enterprises, according to the administration's data.The country has risen 65 places in the global ranking for ease of market access for new enterprises, he said. Although, he added, enterprises can still face a long process before starting operations in China.A number of measures will help promote the reform, Ma said, such as random inspections, which is when the enterprise and inspection officials are randomly selected by computer. This method will ease the burden on enterprises but keep them alert, he said.Meanwhile, the National Enterprise Credit Publicity System now covers more than 30 million enterprises nationwide, showing their records in areas such as business registration and government penalties. Ma said no one would want to see their poor records exposed in the system.Zhao Zhenhua, director of government legislation coordination for the Ministry of Justice, said some legislative clauses would be amended concerning the reform before November.Source: China Daily